Seventh Congressional District Elector J. Harold Boyd, of Culpeper, acknowledged that casting his vote for Hillary Clinton Monday in Richmond as part of the Electoral College was a lot different than when he did it in 2008 for President Barack Obama. ... “Next year, we’ve got governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, all 100 members of the House, four members of town council, the mayor, three members of the board of supervisors, three school board members and that’s just in Culpeper,” Boyd said. “You got to look ahead because you have to plan.”

By STEPHEN J. FARNSWORTH AND STEPHEN HANNA,
Published in the
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia was one of the bright spots for Hillary Clinton and the Democrats in Election 2016, and an examination of the party’s gains over time demonstrate just how much the Old Dominion has changed during the past several presidential elections. The commonwealth’s new voting patterns are obscured by traditional political maps that show a sea of rural Virginia red and patches of Democratic blue in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, greater Richmond, and in independent cities likes Charlottesville and Fredericksburg.

Stephen J. Farnsworth is professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington and director of the university’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, Stephen P. Hanna is professor of geography at UMW

Virginia’s 13 Electoral College electors performed their constitutional duty Monday and cast their votes for Democrats Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, who carried the state Nov. 8.
But it wasn’t easy.

Two Bristol residents — Jason Mumpower in Tennessee and Terry Frye in Virginia — will head to their respective state capitals on Monday to cast votes for president, but they support different candidates. ... The former state representative said he’s confident all 11 electors in Tennessee will vote for Trump, ... Frye is an at-large elector in Virginia and is voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton, who defeated Trump in the general election in Virginia although Trump won in Southwest Virginia.

Virginia's Democratic members of the Electoral College are all strong supporters of Hillary Clinton. What they're less sure of is the process they will be a part of next week.
On Monday, the electors will meet at the Virginia Capitol to cast their votes for the next president of the United States. Usually a ceremonial step in the road to the presidency, this year's meeting of the Electoral College has drawn intense scrutiny. ...

It’ll be a bittersweet trip to Richmond on Monday for three Hampton Roads women who are members of the Virginia Electoral College voting to formally elect the next president of the United States.
The trio will join 10 other Democrats who qualified to cast the state’s 13 electoral votes for Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, after their presidential ticket won the Nov. 8 statewide vote.

Virginia voters are happier than ever with the job President Obama is doing, but are also upbeat about the next four years under President-elect Donald Trump, a new poll finds.
In a state that twice sent Obama to the White House, 59 percent of voters approve of the job Obama is doing, while 38 percent do not, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. His previous high in Virginia was in January 2013, as he started his second term. At that time, 52 percent approved of Obama and 44 percent disapproved.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) is calling on fellow members of Congress to delay a Dec. 19 electoral college vote because of reports about foreign interference in the presidential election aimed at helping elect Republican Donald Trump.
“Recent, credible intelligence reports suggest a concerted effort by a foreign power to interfere in the outcome” of the election, Beyer, a liberal Democrat, said in a statement posted to Twitter at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

On Monday, the 538 electors that make up the U.S. Electoral College will convene in the capital cities of all 50 states to vote on who will succeed Barack Obama as the nation’s president.
Virgina’s 13 electors will likely vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton, who won the state in the Nov. 8 election against Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Rep. Randy Forbes, who has been mentioned as a possible secretary of the Navy under President-elect Donald Trump, visited Trump Tower in New York on Monday.
The Chesapeake Republican took time out from the waning days of the congressional session to travel to the Manhattan building where Trump and his staff are conducting interviews for senior administration positions.